Hopes of being able to take advantage of the new regulations to get to the top of the grid were high for Alpine, but even in 2022 the gap from the top of the class remained wide. Nonetheless, the Anglo-French team closed the first part of the championship in fourth place in the constructors’ standings, a result which, if confirmed at the end of the season, would equal the best result since the return to Formula 1 achieved in 2018. Alpine is the result of the development work of the single-seater in the current championship, perfecting the already good starting point. In detail, the team has greatly evolved the initial approachwithout revolutionizing it and without abandoning the key points of the project.
Looking at the list of updates introduced from March onwards, even more than the points present surprise those absent. In fact, Alpine has not declared any intervention to the cooling systems of the braking system, also exploited with the current regulations to regulate the heat transfer between brakes and tires, proving to be very helpful tools in the thermal management of the tires. Among the top teams, for example, Red Bull and Mercedes have built part of their progress precisely on the optimization of the channels inside the braking system, finding a more effective use of their tires. It is not excluded that Alpine may have made minor changes without declaring them, but nevertheless the synergy between brakes and tires does not seem to have been at the heart of the development of the A522.
Conversely, a substantial part of the aerodynamic development work was carried out on the sides. The team from beyond the Alps started the season with a basic concept similar to that of Red Bull and AlphaTauri, albeit with some differences. The fairing bodywork of the bellies was designed with a declining trend downwards towards the rear, channeling the flows adhering to the surfaces towards the rear environment, with the aim of increasing the extraction of air from the diffuser and the load released from the bottom . From then on, Alpine carried out a work that seemed to bring the A522 closer to the concepts of Ferrari, but while re-proposing some concepts of the F1-75, such as the external rise in the body, the French car remained faithful to the initial philosophy. Through their subsequent evolutions, in fact, the sides have remained declining towards the rear, unlike the Red whose bodywork vents in the upper part of the rear.
Since its debut in Bahrain, Alpine has relocated the side radiators to pave the way for the first interventions on the sides. The external “shoulders” of the sidepods have in fact been extended upwards, exploiting the larger surface to isolate the car body from harmful turbulence coming from the front wheels. In Baku, on the other hand, the eighth round of the season, the second specification of the A522 fincate was introduced. The air intakes of the side radiators have been narrowed, but longitudinally their position has been advanced and brought closer to the front wheels. In this way, the side shielding surface from turbulence has been enlarged, while the lower flare in the body has been lengthened, resulting in a different management of flows in the upper part of the bottom and along its outer edge. All in all, Azerbaijani updates have improved underbody load generationbenefiting from the aerodynamic efficiency of the car body and consequently benefiting the speed peaks at the end of the straight.
The trip to Silverstone was the setting for the latest evolution of the A522’s bonnet in the first half of the championship. The channel created in the excavation along the upper part of the sides has been accentuated, reinforcing the stylistic references with Ferrari. However, it is a predominantly visual similarity, as the bodywork continues to decline to the lower part of the rear suspension, contrary to the high profile of the F1-75’s bellies. Also in England, the grilles for the evacuation of hot air from the engine compartment were repositioned, improving the cleaning of the flows adhering to the bellies and channeled towards the rear.
Comparison between the bellies of the F1-75 and the new sides brought by Alpine to Silverstone# F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/Otke71EaBs
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The evolution of the sidepods in the upper part of the A522 had as its aim the more effective exploitation of the lower section of the car, namely the underbody. Simultaneously with the sides, the fund was repeatedly updated during the season, starting with the debut in Bahrain and subsequent updates in Australia, where there are also new vertical strips in the entrance grille of the Venturi canal. Development continued in Imola, Miami and subsequently Silverstone, placing itself together with the bonnet update as a single package designed as a whole, surrounded by the new front suspension strut fairing. Finally, in France the lateral edge of the bottom was again modified, while the Venturi channels were provided with a new inlet grille.
As for the wings, the work on adjusting the load level and improving efficiency has mainly focused on the rear axle. The low-load rear wing debuted in Jeddah, along with new endplates for the front wing. In Barcelona, on the other hand, the maximum load rear wing was introduced, while in Baku the more discharged flaps on both axles were introduced. It began in Azerbaijan a revision of the beam-wing, updated in the Azerbaijani capital, Montreal and Hungary. Meanwhile, the parenthesis of Austria, a stage where the rear wing has been further updated, widening the connecting radii between the profiles and the external strips of the endplates.
Among the leading teams, Alpine is the team that most frequently worked on the aerodynamic appendages outside the rear brake air intakes. These are critical elements in the car package, as they generate load directly on the wheel unit, and therefore on the unsprung masses downstream of the “filtering” action of the suspension. Even more delicate, however, is the impact on the aerodynamic management of the rear axle, inducing vortices and pressure changes that are crucial in the use of the diffuser and in the generation of load from the bottom. The team from beyond the Alps has updated these appendices on three occasions, all concentrated in the first third of the championship, in Melbourne, Miami and Barcelona.
Like recent seasons, Alpine confirmed a great prolificacy of the technical department, giving rise to a path of constant and consistent development. The detailed work did not preclude macroscopic interventions, without however ever denying the starting point, emphasizing its goodness. The Anglo-French team thus demonstrates that it has the basis and the tools to continue the technical run-up to the leading triad, but even before to defend itself from the return of McLaren.
Alpine development 2022
-Bahrain: repositioning of radiators; bottom, sidepods.
-Saudi Arabia: low load rear wing.
-Australia: new vertical strips in the entrance section of the Venturi channels on the bottom; new external aerodynamic appendages to the rear brake air intakes.
-Imola: new fund.
-Miami: new external aerodynamic appendages to the rear brake air intakes.
-Barcelona: front wing endplate; new maximum load rear wing; new external aerodynamic appendages to the rear brake air intakes.
-Monaco: adaptation of the steering kinematics.
-Baku: sides and side air intakes; low load front and rear wing flaps; low load beam wing.
-Canada: new beam-wing.
-Silverstone: sides; bottom; front suspension strut outer fairing.
-Austria: increase in the radius of connection between profiles and endplates of the rear wing.
-France: outer edge of the bottom; Venturi channel grille.
-Hungary: beam wing.
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